TODAY: As expected, Encarnacion has been activated.
YESTERDAY: The Yankees are set to welcome Edwin Encarnacion back to the big league roster after a month-long absence due to a fracture in his right wrist, Conor Foley of the Scranton Times-Tribune tweets. Encarnacion cleaned out his locker with the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate in Scranton following today’s game and told Foley that he feels “100 percent” and is “ready to go.”
Encarnacion, 36, hit .238/.327/.497 with nine home runs an 10 doubles through 36 games and 162 plate appearances between his mid-June acquisition and his IL placement on Aug. 3. It’s a step back from the .241/.356/.531 pace he managed with the Mariners prior to the swap, but his return will nonetheless provide a boost to a Yankees lineup that continues to hit even as it deals with the absence of numerous regulars.
The Yankees recently welcomed Luke Voit back from the injured list and have been enjoying a torrid hot streak from Mike Ford, who has belted six home runs in his past 10 games. Major League rosters have expanded to 40 players this month, so the Yankees won’t need to option anyone out to accommodate Encarnacion’s return. Given the health of Voit and Ford’s recent excellence, Encarnacion could be eased back into action, as that trio is each restricted to first base/designated hitter duties only. As such, manager Aaron Boone can now play matchups as he sees fit with that trio — Ford has hit just .176/.278/.318 against lefties — and always have another dangerous bat on the bench.
Encarnacion is owed the balance of this year’s $20MM salary between now and season’s end — some of which is being paid by both the Rays (who were involved in the three-team Encarnacion trade in the winter) and the Mariners. Encarnacion’s contract comes with a $20MM club option for the 2020 season, which includes a $5MM buyout.
Tigers AA catcher Chace Numata passed away today from head injuries from a skateboarding accident.
Omg I am so sorry for all The Tiger fans.
Sorry to hear that.
RIP Numata. Sorry…..
“…Yankees lineup that continues to hit even as it deals with the absence of numerous regulars.”
But there’s nothing suspicious about that. Not at all.
Why would it be suspicious? They are just a good team. Some teams are not good
Yeah it’s called good scouting and a deep farm system. Salty much?
Considering the shear number of drug users that have come out of the Bronx over the years …Yes, it’s suspicious.
@qbass187
I don’t think the Yanks had any more or less than any other team prior to testing. Stop the trolling.
This guy @whyhayzee regurgitates the same thing over and over.. As much testing that goes on, to suggest that they are all on PEDs just because they are having the best years of their careers is an insult to what the players and coaches have done.
Trust me, if it were a matter of PEDs then Cash would be spoon feeding them to the pitchers.
Literally every other team had had just as many so I’m not sure why you’re pointing out the Bronx. Do the Red Sox not have ortiz, manny, Chavis, Wright, ect? And that’s just mentioning verified users from that system. The Yankees have certainly had their share of offenders but to say its any more or any less than any other team is ridiculous and misinformed. Not to mention if your looking at the current roster it’s all speculation.
Hey Qbass-Do you always have to repeat your vomit here? There is so much time and distance between the era that you refer to AND the facts described above concerning old Red Sox who were just as suspicious and guilty.
In the meantime, all of the real baseball fans on this site wish you a quiet October. You’ve enjoyed your rings. It’s time to enjoy your disappointment.
At least your belove Red Sox didn’t finish in last place—something that they have managed to do 3 times in the past 20 years.
Gio has 18 home runs. Tauchman has 12, Ford has 10. Clearly this massive power outbreak must be ped’s. You guys are joking, right? No one is mistaking any of the Yankees subs for early 2000’s bonds
Sheer*
Theory debunked.
H
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T H I S
It’s call a juice ball that Mlb will not admit that they change it, this is happening everywhere around baseball, how does a guy like yelich already have over 40 bombs and his body shows he’s not even a power hitter. Look ketel marte homer ooutput. It’s not just the Yankees it’s happening everywhere in baseball. Pitchers every giving up more homers than usually and they are first to tell that the ball is different.
Hey Arnold- whyhaze’s perspective is understandable since we previously banished him to Flushing. That’s what happens to wanna he Yankee haters with a know it all attitude.
The Yankees are great at scouting hitters and Marcus Thames is one of the best hitting coaches in the league. That’s why the Yankees have been able to overcome their injuries and win with replacements
Because if there’s one thing hitting coaches can do it’s turn guys who can barely hit 10 homers into veritable sluggers. And repeat over and over. Why, if he coached the whole league, games would NEVER end. It’s amazing. And fake.
@whyhayzee The only hitters that have surprised with the bat are Tauch, Gio and Maybin. Tauchman has had good power seasons in the Rockies farm with 2 years of 16 plus homers. Maybin has had 10 homer seasons. Urshela has had a couple of double digit homer seasons. Not unheard bro. Why do you keep insisting something wrong?Jelly?
Almost all the guys NYY picked up were log jammed behind productive high priced major league players on different clubs. The Yankees have had so many injuries they’ve *needed* to trade for and immediately put these guys on the field.
Between the ‘juiced’ ball, the Yankees’ hitting ethos (hard contact, hit for power get the ball in play, pick your spots for walks) and the sport in general emphasizing lifting the ball in the air, coupled with ever improving training and a ton of guys in their physical prime, you’re gonna get a ton of power- I doubt any of them would stay healthy and hit 50 in a full season, but it’s not insane to tweak the mechanics of a guy who *is still a professional baseball player with a career in the affiliate leagues* so they hit 15-20 home runs in 100-ish games a piece if everybody is being re-trained specifically to hit harder and lift the ball in the air more in a game they’re already professionally skilled at.
Yes, a good hitting coach can help a player correct the flaws in their swings and that can lead to an improvement in their hitting. That’s literally the hitting coaches job. But I understand it’s a lot easier to cry steroids
Hey whyhaze? Now we know why your mother calls you squeaky. Unless your genius intellect can tell us something that we don’t know, tue Yankees and most other teams have hit more homeruns this year as MLB has changed the specifications of the baseball.
You may be so full of yourself that you can’t do a google search, however it may be a good idea to investigate why rather than just be a big mouth.
Just to make sure I understand. Your contention is that PEDs can turn a guy with 10 hrs in a career to a guy with 30 in a season?
If that’s the case put a needle in my arm. I’ve hit 0 homeruns in my mlb career so some PEDs could obviously give me 15 and a shot at a team.
Don’t forget ford! This guy has yankee envy and it’s not roids or other stuff. Look at the twins, stros, Sox last year. Baseball on the whole sees every regular smacking em out now
Stop with your fake moniker haze. You must be smoking some aweful smelling DOPE to act like such a DOPE.
Adam Frazier’s stock is going down. Just looked horrible and flat out missed a ball.
His name is Clint and I saw the play and it was far from an easy catch. The ball was hit and it tailed away and was out of reach. Wasn’t a bad route and he didn’t drop it. Frazier needs to keep working on his defense but that was not one of those “should of caught it” unless maybe if your Bradley Jr.
And he just nailed
Elvis Andrus at
home plate!
I think he’s got a case of the yips that he needs to shake and he’ll only shake ’em if the Yanks run him out there and give him a chance.
Frazier’s public relationship with the Yankees has been strange. He’s too amazing with too high a ceiling to trade away for virtually anything.
It felt like I had been reading about Clint Frazier as a prospect for what seemed like a million years because he was so highly touted, yet he was only traded for in 2016 when the Yankees traded Andrew Miller’s contract- a fairly recent and unceremonious contract dump.
Supposedly they or the media has an issue with his personality and presence, aside from his defensive weaknesses and streaky hitting. He was still hitting .280 when he was sent down. He still hit for like 13 or 14 more home runs in the minors… I’d like to see the Yankees keep him, even with their log jams and see if he can develop just above replacement level defensive skills and superior offensive numbers to become a slightly above average player.
@TrillionaireTeamOperator
People don’t get that aside from his recent demotion to work on his defense, he missed most of a season recovering from the concussion. If he wasn’t over the PA limit he would likely still be a top 50 prospect. That concussion really seemed to sap his momentum as he was set to take over LF from Gardner following the trade.
“He’s too amazing with too high a ceiling to trade away for virtually anything”
Wow you lost me there. Some real hyperbole. He is a good player. I think what you meant was “He is too good of a player to sell low on”. There are plenty of trade packages involving him that make a lot of sense
@johnrealtime I will give you that. It was hyperbolic. I think he’s a guy who can hit just shy of .300 with 35 HR power. I think there are other guys who can do close to what he does and the Yankees were just hoping he’d be their guy, developed in-house. Even with successes like Tauchman, I think there’s too much raw talent there with Frazier to give up on him. That said, he might very well be a quadruple-A player for the Yankees who they can’t fix.
From what little I understand and can tell, Frazier’s problem is that he moves quicker than he thinks on the field. His timing is off on everything, despite his raw power and speed. So he makes hard contact but he doesn’t make good contact, resulting in mostly pop outs and strike outs. In the field, arrives where the ball is landing but he doesn’t correctly calculate where to put his glove or when to put his glove.
I’m not sure what will fix him, Like I said, he might be psychologically compromised so that he overthinks his job and can’t perform consistently in official games. He may very well need to be traded to maximize his value. As Yogi said, the game is 90% half mental. I think there’s truth to that.
What kinds of packages would make sense? Who would take him for someone worth giving him up for? It’s one thing to not be comfortable starting him under the current roster situation and his player development issues, but I think the Yankees still view trading him as not being worth as much as keeping him.
I appreciate the reply. I agree with many of your sentiments, it will be interesting to see what kind of player he turns into at this point.
I am thinking that the Yankees view his value at being higher than offers they received this year and they hope that he will rebound so that he can either help the team or be moved.
I do think it’s in their best interest to keep him and try and give him a starting role next year (I should say that he will battle for one with someone next Spring) and see what comes of that. If he could be a major piece in a trade for an ace, then that makes sense too. I think he has to have a successful September and postseason for that to happen though
Assuming Stanton, Hicks, and Judge are all healthy, Frazier has no spot. Gardner and Yankees may work out a farewell deal as he’s been productive this year. That leaves Tauchman as the fifth outfielder. Gary Sanchez should only catch 120 games to keep him fresh and DH on other days. I’m not ready to give up on Frazier but he should be traded to maximize returns.
If they let Gardner go, they can easily juggle Stanton, Hicks, Judge between the OF and DH spots, along with Sanchez at DH occasionally.
It really depends on what they are offered for him, they shouldn’t trade him imo just to trade him. Who knows where his value really stands at the moment with rival gms
@lowereastsider
I think they’ll make an effort to keep Stanton as a DH mostly, wrapped in bubble wrap and sitting on the bench in between innings. On days where Gary will be the DH then they can rest Judge and play Stanton in RF. I think with the fragile nature of some of our guys is best to assume depth will be needed.. I don’t know if it would be wise to expect to have so many instant replacements.
If we can afford the space I’d like to see something like..
5 starters (out of Severino, Paxton, Happ, German, Tanaka, Montgomery and maybe a FA like Cole).
6 bullpen- Bets, Britton, Chapman, Green, Ottavino, Khanle
1B-Voit (Bird in AAA or released)
2B, SS- DJ, Torres, Didi
3B-Urshela, Andujar
C-Sanchez, Romine
DH Stanton
LF-Frazier
CF-Hicks
RF-Judge
Rotating- Gardner/Tauchman
That’s 25 guys. Someone is bound to be injured coming out of spring training.
I agree with all of that. I am not opposed to trading him, but I am opposed to trading him just for a swap. If we traded him, it would have to be for a 1 to 1 stud with different skill sets trade but without secret concerns. An opposite justification and need when compared to the Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda trade, which looked fantastic for both clubs on paper, but quickly fizzled for the reasons both clubs were willing to give up those highly touted long-in-development prospects.
If Frazier has a strong September and post season- say, hits .290 with 5 HR’s 10 RBI’s in September and at least .250 with 2 HR’s in the post season or something, we could probably get an amazing pitching haul for him and we should do it, given the glut of starter quality options we have for our outfield and DH slots.
But he is definitely the odd man out when you consider our OF options. I personally want them to bring Brett Gardner back for one last year, Florial might be ready to go, they might stick with and get productive offense and stellar defense from Tauchman, Stanton could come back strong, Hicks could stay healthy and then Judge could stay healthy- even without Frazier or Gardner that’s Stanton, Hicks, Judge, Tauchman; Gardner is a strong possibility to be re-signed and they’ll probably be forced to call up Florial based on his performance and I might be forgetting somebody before we even consider Frazier.
So yes, Frazier is expendable and probably should be traded at peak value after the post season, I’ll give you that. I’d also support and totally understand the Yankees if they kept him, tried to work him into the line up as a DJ LeMahieu type for the OF or as what Gardner was supposed to be this season.
@southbeachbully and others: What do you guys think of the contract situations? Judge and Sanchez are up for arbitration, as is Paxton. They aren’t gonna take team friendly low AAV deals like Hicks and Severino. It’s also crazy to think they’d get wildly different contracts or that the Yankees would go all in long-term for anybody right now unless it was a Hicks/Severino type low AAV deal, which you can’t rightfully ask from Judge or Sanchez or Torres, especially, who’s due after 2020.
With Gary Sanchez just now hitting his 33rd HR and having lost a third of a season as is, with Judge having sustained injuries that knocked him out of large chunks of the last two seasons, I feel like they’ll sign pro rated contract extensions and the team will wait one more year on Torres and hope he doesn’t hit 50 HR’s next season. I’m thinking:
Didi: 4 yrs/$65M w/ $17.5M option or let him walk
Paxton: 1 yr/$12.5M or 5 years/$85M (Burnett’s deal plus inflation)
Sanchez Low Ball: 1 yr/$11M 3 yrs/$50M High Ball: 9 years/$160M
Judge Low Ball: 1 yr/$11M Mid-Ball 3 yrs/$50M High Ball 9 yrs/$200M
Torres Low Ball: 1yr/$705K Mid-Ball: 4 yrs/$51M High Ball: 13 yrs/$330M
Gardner 1 yr/$12.5M w/ a $3M buy out on a $17.5M mutual option (to guarantee the money and let Gardner walk on his terms with an extra boost of cash to cap off his Yankee career and maintain the AAV of his original extension, given that they probably should’ve just picked him his $12M option)
You wanna give a guy who has played one year a 13 year 330 million dollar contract? Your screen name is accurate but that’s a dumb move
What’s suspicious about it, speak your mind
There’s nothing persuasive about a guy who insinuates stuff without giving any evidence. Spineless, but not persuasive.
Can I see your proof that any of these guys are on PEDs? Not you wanting them to be because you hate the Yankees and want to belittle everything they’ve done this season but real life proof (aka please point out failed tests, guys being caught with a substance on them, ect). If it’s just speculation because you don’t believe a bunch of guys you’ve never seen play before (and probably hadn’t even heard of) 5 months ago can be good you’re just making yourself look stupid and biased.
I think network analysis would help us see where the PED movement started and how it spread. Ricky Henderson, Mark McGwire, and Jose Canseco would appear to be hubs in that network.
The Athletics organization appears to be the most complicit organization. Not the Yankees or Red Sox.
YOU ARE AN IDIOT for lumping in Ricky Henderson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Ejemp2006
There’s absolutely nothing to suggest Ricky Henderson ever used PEDs. He’s always been a super athletic guy. Not like a huge muscle bound guy but a strong running back time. Thick muscles, mostly in his legs. He stayed in great shape and there was no real uptick in performance once he hit his late 30s or into his 40s. He was just a great physical “Bo Jackson/Shaq” realm.
You hilariously conspiratorial, mind-meltingly gullible wackjobs are some of my favorite reading material on this site. Keep it up, guys!
If it was a different club, I could see Encarnacion’s option being picked up, but seems like the Yanks are destined to buy him out, if only because $20M is a ton of money off the bench. Seems like they could pick the option up with a trade already set, flip him for pitching depth to someone who…needs power…does any club really need power nowadays, assuming the juiced ball and ‘put the ball in the air’ era continues to some degree?
I suppose if he hadn’t been injured he may have provided some heroics and he isn’t a real injury threat, especially if he comes back the last 20 games or so and hits like he had no time off, he’d be viewed as worth his paycheck.
He is the daily DH
I don’t think EE is worth $20m if the Braves only had to give Josh Donaldson $23m for one year. He’ll probably get <$10m on the open market when the Yankees buy him out.
Not sure .I follow your wording/logic. If Josh Donaldson is worth 1 year/$23M and that was a bargain for his services (also I think everybody expects him to get around 2 years/$50M to 3 years/$80M) then Encarnacion is worth less than $10M? EE has virtually identical offensive numbers to Donaldson with 34 fewer games played or 451 to 574 PA’s. With the same number of opportunities at their respective paces, EE would have 4 more HR’s *and* his WAR would be 3.4 which is thanks to him primarily DHing and only manning 1B occasionally, while Donaldson is in the NL without a DH spot and thus more opportunities to show his value by flashing the leather. Lets say Donaldson maintain his quality of play and Encarnacion gets enough 1B starts and plays adequately enough to get a 0.0 neutral Defensive WAR for the year, he’d be at 3.2 WAR or if he kept pace with Donaldson in playing time, he’d have a 4.3 WAR, which is only .6 less than Donaldson, making him worth about 88 cents on the dollar to whatever Donaldson is worth.
So I’m not saying they’re equivalent players all around, I’m just saying if Josh Donaldson is worth more than 1 year/$23M that doesn’t make Encarnacion worth only 1 year and less than $10MM.
If they both hit FA this offseason, no draft pick, no options, etc. I think Donaldson will get what he’s gonna get, around 2-3 years at $25M+ AAV and I think Encarnacion would still get 1 year/$20M.
I think Donaldson is going to go for like 4 years/$132M, settle for 3 years/$100M.
I think the Yankees ultimately pick up Encarnacion’s option and then try to flip him ASAP for pitching, especially if they’re out bid for Gerrit Cole, since they’ll need pitching no matter what and I bet they do get Marcus Stroman, but if they don’t get a good deal, they have a $20M bench bat. Not out of style for the Yankees, but definitely a more ‘Classic Yankees’ move.
The people who think I’m talking about PED’s have swung and missed. Never mentioned, never insinuated, never even considered.
Time to retire whyhaze. You make no sense and lost relevance a very long time ago.
@whyhayzee
Your posts suggests something nefarious. If it isn’t PED that you’re suggesting then all other possibilities seem to be of a positive nature. You, me and everyone else reading your posts know you’re implying that the Yanks organization is doing something wrong that makes unheralded players much better. Give it up buddy.
Homers are up everywhere not just the Bronx dude. Either implicate all of MLB or stop harping on the yanks.
Wow a post from gee whiz where he’s not bashing CC, Gardy or Cash! Just proves that you can put a bully on their place.
proof you can’t teach stupid.
Again, being a fan of a team does not mean one has to wants to swallow the GM.
Go yanks and F off
This guy is such a trip! Dude, please keep the laughs coming; I love this. You’re so impossibly awful I can’t help but get enjoyment out of it.
Did the Yankees have to send someone down in order to activate EE?
Probably not with the expansion of rosters in Sept.
Ah i forget that they havent implemented the rule where you can only call up 2-3 or so extra guys in Sept instead of 40 yet
Ford has actually CRUSHED lefties to the tune of 393/452/1179. The splits mentioned in the article are his splits vs. righties. Get your facts straight.
The Yankees have more players in the infirmary than they do on the field. Yet, nearly every substitute performs at all-star level. They have had very few players under-perform.
Just Paxton, Happ and Tanaka you an extent.
Are they subs?
I must admit that maybe I was wrong about Aaron Boone when he was hired to be the manager. He’s done an excellent job managing this team through injuries and underwhelming performance from key players. I really thought that his signing was a mistake, but he’s been the MVP for them along with DJLM. If Severino and Sabathia can get healthy to pitch long relief in the playoffs, the Yankees have a strong chance of winning it all! My bet is on yet another Yankee/Dodgers clash and it being epic! Sure the Astros and Dodgers have better SP than the Yankees but look at that bullpen! If their SP gets them 4-5 innings and it’s close, 95% of the time it’s lights out after that! No other team can say that this year. I’m sold it’s going to be #28 for the Yankees.